NYC GOP mayoral nominee floats new nickname for Cuomo, Adams while urging Trump to stay ‘neutral’ in race
NEW YORK, N.Y. – As he runs for mayor in Democrat-dominated New York City, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa says he’s on a mission.
“I’ve got to beat Zohran Mamdani to save this city,” Sliwa said in a Fox News Digital interview this week.
Mamdani, the 33-year-old democratic socialist state lawmaker from the New York City borough of Queens, sent political shockwaves across the country in June as he topped former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and nine other candidates to capture the Democratic Party’s mayoral nomination.
But with Cuomo – the former three-term governor who resigned in 2021 amid multiple scandals – still running in the general election as an independent candidate, and embattled incumbent Democratic Mayor Eric Adams also running as an independent, Sliwa sees a pathway to victory in a city where GOP ballot box victories are rare.
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“Zohran is the Democratic nominee, but there are two other Democrats in this race, well-known Democrats, Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo, and they are Zohran light because they actually agree more times on issues than disagree,” Sliwa claimed.
And Sliwa showcased that “I am the only Republican candidate. I have Republican values.”
Nearly every recent poll in the New York City mayoral race indicates that Mamdani holds a healthy double-digit lead over Cuomo and the other contenders in November’s general election, as he aims to become the first Muslim and first millennial mayor of the nation’s most populous city.
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Also on the ballot in the general election is Jim Walden, a former federal prosecutor running as an independent.
Walden earlier this summer proposed that an independent survey be conducted in September to determine which candidate would have the best shot of defeating Mamdani, with the other candidates agreeing to drop out.
While Cuomo has partially embraced the proposal, Adams and Sliwa have not signed on.
“I’m not dropping out. I’m a major party candidate. Let the independents play musical chairs and decide who to drop out,” Sliwa reiterated.
Sliwa, who gained notoriety in the 1970’s and 1980’s as co-founder of the Guardian Angels, the nonprofit crime prevention organization that patrols the city’s subways, and who later enjoyed careers in TV and radio, is the GOP’s mayoral nominee for a second straight election.
But he said he hasn’t talked with President Donald Trump, a New York City native, or members of the president’s political team.
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“No, I haven’t had any conversations with President Donald Trump, who I’ve known over the years. We’ve had a love-hate relationship. Everybody knows that,” Sliwa reiterated.
Trump and Republicans have occasionally taken aim at Mamdani, with the president claiming that he’s a “communist.” It’s part of a GOP effort to tie Mamdani and his far-left proposals to Democrats across the country, as part of the party’s longtime effort to try and portray Democrats as extremists.
Earlier this year, the Justice Department in the Trump administration dismissed federal corruption charges against Adams, so the mayor could potentially work with the Trump administration on its illegal immigration crackdown.
And earlier this month, the New York Times reported that Trump and Cuomo discussed the mayoral race during a phone call, a conversation that the former governor denies took place.
“I do understand that [Trump] has a relationship with Andrew Cuomo that spans the years, and he kept Eric Adams from going to jail, so he’s communicated with them, which is fine, fine by me,” Sliwa said.
But he urged the president to “be Switzerland, be neutral” when it comes to the New York City mayoral race.
And Sliwa pointed to the nearly two-year-long armed conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
“I think the way the president can best help in this campaign is to try to bring peace to the Gaza between Israel and Hamas, because every day the war rages there is a good day for Zohran Mamdani. Because of the videos we see, the photographs, it’s having an impact on people here in the city of New York.”
Sliwa has been recognizable in New York City for decades, due in part to his trademark red beret.
But he’s increasingly taken it off in recent months, as he bids a second time for mayor.
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“It’s a bifurcated Curtis Sliwa,” he told Fox News. “When I’m in the subway, like I’ll be in a few hours, where I do the bulk of my campaigning with average everyday people…or I’m in the streets, I’m going to wear the beret. It’s in honor of six Guardian Angels killed in the line of duty, three dozen seriously injured over 46 years of volunteer service here and all over the world.
But Sliwa added, “I do realize amongst the corporate people who make determinations, they feel more comfortable when I take my beret off.”
